AppleCare Mavericks training has reportedly begun

With OS X Mavericks expected near the end of October, Apple has begun training its AppleCare staff to support the new operating system release. The training is happening in small groups to avoid it becoming public knowledge, according to 9to5Mac.

Apple introduced Mavericks at this year's WWDC event in San Francisco this past June, indicating that it would be released by the end of the year. The software has been steadily inching toward release with periodic "Developer Preview" releases.

October is expected to be a big month for Apple - the company will report its fourth calendar quarter earnings for its fiscal year 2013, and it typically makes product announcements right around then. Given Apple's introduction of new MacBook Pro and iMac systems last October, we're anticipating new Macs to be released around then - and hopefully Mavericks too.

The question is, what will Apple introduce? The company just released refreshed the iMac line last week, so that's off the table. MacBook Pros are due for a refresh - none of them have the Haswell microprocessors that debuted in the MacBook Air in June (and are now in the iMac). The Mac mini needs an update, too. And Apple's also expected to release the new Mac Pro relatively soon, too.

Mavericks, or OS X 10.9, features a number of under-the-hood improvements to efficiency and performance. Users will also find new features like tabbed Finder windows, Maps and iBooks applications, and more. Pricing and exact release date are still yet to be announced, though it's a safe bet that you'll be able to download it from the Mac App Store as soon as it's ready.

Are you planning to download Mavericks when it's out? What feature are you most looking forward to? Sound off in the comments.